BAKER — A meeting next month will finally bring two groups together: those who support a Christian substance abuse rehabilitation ministry's move to the area, and those who oppose it.
Exodos Ministries representatives will explain their plans and answer questions 6 p.m. Jan. 8 at the Baker Recreation Center, according to Okaloosa Commissioner Nathan Boyles, the discussion's host and moderator.
In addition, "County staff will explain the zoning and future land use rules relative to the proposed use of the property and explain the development review process as it would relate to a project of this nature," Boyles said in an email.
MEETING AFTER CHRISTMAS
Exodos, a six-year-old nonprofit organization that offers Bible-based, post-detoxification intervention for HIV negative men with no violent criminal record and no hepatitis or tuberculosis, plans to move its ministry from Crestview to the agricultural-zoned Buck Ward Road.
Formal plans will soon be revealed, but the goal is to build a house that initially serves eight men and eventually can minister to 16 men, Kyra Crowson, Exodos' admissions director and secretary of its board of directors, has said.
A number of Buck Ward residents, who live near Exodos' proposed site, have expressed concern that their property values will dip in the not-too-distant future. They've said they support the ministry but fear the danger that close proximity with recovering drug, alcohol or sex addicts could bring to their families and homes.
Exodos and Buck Ward Road representatives have discussed possibly scheduling meetings with each other's committees, but, for reasons both groups disagree on, those plans never worked out.
This week, Buck Ward Road representatives considered scheduling a public meeting at Baker School — with or without Exodos board members; however, the timing didn't seem right.
"It's not the season, Christmas, for this type of furor," resident Bonnie Grundel said in a phone interview.
NEIGHBORS IN DISAGREEMENT
The conflict — between two Christian groups, the neighbors and the ministry — has taken its toll, Grundel said.
"There are neighbors that won't talk to each other that are in disagreement," Grundel said. "There are families that won't talk to each other; they're in disagreement."
In addition, at least two signs protesting Exodos' Buck Ward location have been run over or destroyed, according to Michele Nicholson, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office public information officer.
Some residents said they know of more unreported sign theft and destruction.
Since the beginning, love has been Exodos' driving force, Crowson has said.
"We love our neighbors and I wish our neighbors understood that we are serving our neighbors," she said.
LEGALITY UNCERTAIN
In the meantime, county officials have been researching whether Exodos' services align with typical agricultural-zoned property uses.
The answer is uncertain since Exodos' exact plans haven't been presented, Elliot Kampert, Okaloosa's Growth Management Department director, said in a Nov. 20 email to Boyles.
"Which state rules apply depends on what exactly they end up proposing since different agencies regulate different sort of facilities," Kampert said.
As for January's discussion, Boyles said he will take no position on the issue, "but will simply be trying to facilitate communication between the stakeholders, as the subject parcel is in my district."
WHAT: Public meeting on Exodos Ministries' move to Baker
WHEN: 6 p.m. Jan. 8, 2015
WHERE: Baker Recreation Center
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Meeting on Exodos Ministries scheduled